We are ready to shout it from the rooftops: the YMCA of Rapid City is our latest Early Learning grantee! This $700,000 two-year grant will support the Jump Start Program in Rapid City.
Two-Year Support for the Jump Start Program
About Jump Start
Jump Start provides quality early-learning and affordable child care to families enrolled with community organizations including Catholic Social Services – Uplifting Parents, Black Hills Special Services – Workforce Connections, Rapid City Area High Schools, and OneHeart who are working to better their lives and achieve self-sufficiency.
In South Dakota, childcare costs nearly $10,000 per child per year. As many of the parents in Jump Start are trying to break the cycle of poverty and starting off in new jobs, affording a $10,000 childcare expense becomes a huge burden that they are not able to carry alone. Jump Start addresses this key barrier by providing subsidized, quality child care that includes early childhood education, parent mentoring, and connection to other resources like Starting Strong Rapid City, childcare assistance, and state-sponsored food programs.
This grant will help the YMCA ensure there is a path forward for both adults trying to better the lives of their families through these partner programs, and for their children who deserve access to quality and consistent early learning.
About the YMCA of Rapid City
The YMCA of Rapid City has served the greater Rapid City area since 1948 as an organization bringing men, women, girls and boys of all ages, races, faiths, abilities, and economic backgrounds together in programs designed to nurture the potential of every child and teen, improve the health and well-being for all in the community, and give special focus to the most vulnerable in the community. Along with childcare centers and wellness centers in Rapid City and Custer, the YMCA of Rapid City also offers programming such as Jump Start for parents looking to break the cycle of poverty, Y Kidstop for afterschool enrichment, a teen outreach center, and YMCA Giraffic Park summer day camp.
